Grout applying machine



July 1, 1969 R. P. BRATTI 3,452,381

GROUT APPLYING MACHINE Filed Dec. 15, 1967 FIG. E

INVENTOR RONALD P BRATTI fi z, 2%; JW

ATTORNEYS United States Patent.

3,452,381 GROUT APPLYING MACHINE Ronald P. Bratti, 4001 N. River St., Arlington, Va. 22207 Filed Dec. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 691,009 Int. Cl. E01c 19/42 US. C]. 15-98 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine having a power driven disc rotatably mounted thereunder and having a plurality of flexible hard rubber blades secured to the under surface thereof at an angle with respect to the plane of said disc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to machines for automatically spreading grouting and forcing the same between a plurality of spaced apart tiles laid in a predetermined pattern.

Description of the prior art The use of tile surface covering in building constructions has increased considerably over the past several years. This is especially true in the entrance foyers of buildings, corridors, kitchen facilities and other areas which are usually subjected to frequent scrubbing or cleaning operations.

For years the grouting utilized to fill the interstices between the tiles consisted of a sand and mortar type mixture which Was easily troWelled into place by hand with the excess grouting being washed off the surface of the tile in a subsequent cleaning operation. In recent years the use of epoxy grouts has increased considerably due to the superior binding qualities of the grouting material. The use of an epoxy grout precludes the ordinary crumbling and cracking of the grouting which was apt to take place with the previous sand and mortar mixes. Furthermore, the epoxy grouting material possessed a certain degree of resiliency subsequent to setting which Would preclude the pulling away of the grouting material from the tiles due to expansion and contraction with temperature changes or shifting movements due to settling of the building with time.

However, the use of epoxy grouting material has proven to present considerable difliculties in the application of the grouting material between the tiles. The synthetic epoxy grouting material is ordinarily mixed at an elevated temperature to maintain the grouting material in a workable paste form. However, once the epoxy grouting material was placed on the tiles which were usually at a considerably lower temperature, the epoxy grouting material would become very stifi and difficult to handle. Thus, the application of epoxy grouting materials by the usual handtrowelling method proved to be very difiicult, tiring and time consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The grout applying machine of the present invention overcomes all of the aforementioned difficulties related to the application of epoxy grouting material.

The grout applying machine of the present invention enables one man to apply grouting material to a substantially larger floor area in the same time and with considerably less effort than the previous hand-trowelling methods of applying grouting material.

The grout applying machine of the present invention is comprised of a housing having a power driven disc rotatably mounted therein for rotation in a plane substantially parallel to the floor surface, a plurality of flexible elongated blade means secured to the underside of said disc at an acute angle relative thereto. The flexible blades rest directly on the tiles to be grouted and support the entire weight of the machine. Upon rotation of the disc member and the blades secured thereto the blades rotate about the axis of the disc to force the grouting material into the interstices between the tiles.

Other features of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose by way of example, the principles of the invention and the best mode which has been contemplated of applying those principles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the grout applying machine With the housing member thereof sectioned to show the rotary disc and driving connections thereto;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the rotary disc shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of a modified arrangement of the grouting blades on the underside of the rotating disc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1 the grout applying machine 10 is shown with the housing 12 in section to disclose the driving connections from the motor 14 to the rotary disc 16. The basic machine is similar in many aspects to a floor bufiing or polishing machine and in fact, such a floor bufiing machine may readily be converted to use as a grout applying machine, as will be seen hereinafter. The motor 14 may be an electric motor with a suitable cord (not shown) for connecting the motor to a source of electric power. It is obvious however that an internal combustion engine, such as a lawn mower engine, could also be mounted on the housing for use in areas where electric power is not readily available. A conventional type handle 18 may be connected to the housing for guiding the grout applying machine over the floor surface. One or more rollers 20 may be mounted on the underside of the housing 12 by means of brackets 22. Such rollers will ordinarily be spaced from the floor during the grout applying operation and will only come into use when the machine housing is tipped back onto the rollers 20 for transporting the machine from one place to another.

The rotary disc 16 may be constructed of wood or any other suitable material and is secured to a shaft member 24 which is rotatably journaled in a bearing sleeve 26 which in this case is integral with an internal support web 28 within the housing 12. A pulley 30 having a hub member 32 is secured to the shaft 24 and a drive belt 34 is trained about the pulley 30 and another pulley 36 secured to the drive shaft 38 of the motor 14 to provide the necessary drive from the motor 14 to the disc 16. A plurality of grout applying blades 40 are secured to the underside of the disc 16 and rest directly on the floor or tile surface 42 during the grout applying operation. In this manner the entire weight of the machine rests upon the blades 40 and substantially aids in spreading the epoxy grouting material and forcing the same downwardly into the interstices between the tiles which are laid out in a predetermined pattern upon the floor.

FIG. 2 shows the underside of the disc member 16 and the manner in which the blades 40 are secured to the disc member 16. Each of the blades 40 is disposed in an arcuate configuration and are equally spaced from each other at intervals. One end of each blade is disposed relatively close to the axis of rotation of the disc 16 and the opposite end of each blade is disposed adjacent the periphery of the disc. Each blade is disposed in a generally perpendicular manner with respect to the adjacent blade. Each blade 40 is secured to the underside of the disc 16 by a pair of complementary blocks 44 and 46 which are directly screwed or bolted to the disc 16 at 48. The opposing edges 50 and 52 of each block 44 and 46 respectively are provided with identical curvatures for clamping the blade 40 therebetween in a curved configuration. The surfaces 50 and 52 are disposed in an angle relative to the disc 16 so that the flexible blade 40 is also disposed at an acute angle relative to the disc 16. In this manner each of the blades 40 slants outwardly toward the periphery of the disc 16.

The strips 40 may be made from any suitable relatively hard but flexible material such as hard rubber. A specific example of the material used is SBR (butadiene styrene) having a durometer of 60, tensile of 1700 p.s.i., and an elongation of 300 percent.

In FIG. 4 a modified arrangement of the flexible grout applying strips is shown wherein each of the flexible strips 60 is disposed radially relative to the disc 16 and at right angles to each other. The strips 60 are clamped to the disc 16 by means of suitable blocks 62 and having complementary angled surfaces facing each other. Thus each of the strips 60 is angled in the same direction relative to the direction of rotation of the disc 16.

In the operation of the grout applying machine the epoxy grout material or any other grout material may be poured directly on the tile floor in advance of the machine 10. Although the epoxy grout material tends to become relatively stiff upon contacting the cold tile floor the blades 40 or 60 on the underside of the rotating disc have suflicient rotati-ve power and the machine supplies sufficient weight to quickly and easily distribute the grout material over the surface of the tiles and force the same down into the interstices between the tiles. By using the grout applying machine of the present invention it is possible to achieve a three-fold increase in the number of square feet which may be grouted per day per man.

The increased use of epoxy grouting material has led to a dangerous occupational hazard. Prior to the present invention the workman would trowel the grouting material on his hands and knees. It has been found that contacting the skin with the epoxy grouting material and breathing the fumes therefrom has led to severe skin and respiratory ailments. By using the present invention the workman does not have to touch the epoxy grouting material and since he operates the machine in a standing position he does not have to inhale the concentrated fumes.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practised otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A grout applying machine comprising a housing, disc means rotatably mounted in said housing for rotation in a generally horizontal plane beneath said housing, motor means mounted on said housing in driving connection with said disc for rotating the same and handle means for guiding said housing, the improvement comprising a plurality of flexible blade means secured to the lower surface of said disc at an acute angle relative to said disc, said blade means being comprised of three equally spaced elongated flexible blades each of which extends along a generally curved chordal path relative to said disc and which are each disposed substantially perpendicular to a portion of the concave face of the next successive blade.

2. A grout applying machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said blade means are constructed from an elongated strip of relatively hard synthetic material having a durometer of approximately 60.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,688,378 10/1928 Dittmar 15-230 X 2,668,976 2/1954 Beach 15-245 X 2,963,059 12/ 1960 Grub 15-236 X 2,707,856 5/ 1955 Kirkman l5230.l6 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 23,965 10/ 1898 Great Britain.

- ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner.

LEON G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 15-230.16 

